READING TIME: 1-2 MINUTES
Please expand on Christ’s comment to Zacchaeus that “salvation has come to this house.”
Luke 19:9: “And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham” (NASB).
This is the only time in the four Gospels that Jesus invited Himself to someone’s home. Both “son of Abraham” and the similar “daughter of Abraham” (cf. Luke 13:10-17) describe a justified believer (see Gal 3:1-14). Whereas Zacchaeus’s fellow countrymen would have questioned his fidelity to his physical Jewish heritage, his belief in Jesus (which probably occurred sometime during Jesus’s stay in his home) rendered him a spiritual son of Abraham as well. John the Baptist minimizes the claim to descendancy from Abraham when not accompanied by repentance (i.e., a change of mind). Zacchaeus’s belief in Jesus and his subsequent repentance rendered him a true Jew and Israelite in every sense of the word (cf. Rom 2:17–29; 9:6–8).
Tom Constable’s comments on this verse are helpful. “Jesus assessed Zaccheus’ promises as evidence of saving faith. “Salvation” had “come to” his “house,” because Zaccheus had exercised saving faith, and had thereby proved to be a genuine descendant “of Abraham”—the spiritual father of all believers. His faith and works proved that he was a true, spiritual son of Abraham, and not just one of his physical descendants (cf. Gen. 15:6; 22:1-19). Now he could enter the kingdom, not because he was a Jew physically but because he was a believer in Jesus.”
Sources Consulted
Black, Mark C. Luke. Joplin, MO: College Press Pub., 1995. College Press NIV Commentary.
Bock, Darrell L. Luke. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994. The IVP New Testament Commentary Series.
________. Luke: 9:51–24:53. Vol. 2. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 1996. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament.
Butler, Trent C. Luke. Vol. 3. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000. Holman New Testament Commentary.
Constable, Dr. Thomas L. “Notes on Luke.” 2020 Edition.
Stein, Robert H. Luke. Vol. 24. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992. The New American Commentary.
Utley, Robert James. The Gospel according to Luke. Volume 3A. Marshall, TX: Bible Lessons International, 2004. Study Guide Commentary Series.
Valdés, Alberto S. “The Gospel according to Luke.” The Grace New Testament Commentary. Ed. Robert N. Wilkin. Denton, TX: Grace Evangelical Society, 2010. 322–323.
Wiersbe, Warren W. The Bible Exposition Commentary. Vol. 1. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996.
